Piano-violin.



No. 884,785. PATENTED APR. 14, 1908. G. WALGH.

PIANO VIOLIN.

' APPLIOATION ILBD SEPT. 12 1906.

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\ /itnesses No. 884,785. PATENTED APR. 14, 1908.

G. WALGH.

PIANO VIOLIN.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 12.1906- 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2..

J I V 'ruz NORRIS PKYIII cm. WASHINGTON. a. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GUSTAV WALCI-I, OF LEIPZIG, GERMANY.

PIANO-VIOLIN.

Application filed September 12, 1906.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I GUSTAV VVALGH, a subject of the German Emperor, and resident of No. 10 lVIockernschestrasse, Leipzig, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Piano-Violins, of which the following is a specification.-

My invention has for its object a keyed musical-instrument, the strings of which are made to sound, at the manipulation of the keys from the key-board in the usual manner, by vibration derived from a rotating roller which transmits the vibrations to the strings by certain bars holding the respective strings by special clamps, so that a highly pleasing lasting tone and effect are obtained for the music.

The invention consists of a case, similar to a piano-case, being provided with a harp-like structure, at its sounding-board, having strings which are vertically arranged and supported on bridges. Each of the strings is held by a certain manner of clamp which are fastened at the end of their respective bars having an arrangement of horse hair and the like at a side adapted to come in. con tact with a special rotating roller which, at the manipulation of the respective keys at the key-board which are connected with the bars by regulatable rods holding to the levers which supports the bars respectively causes the respective bars to vibrate and transmit the vibration to the respective strings held by the clamp of the bar in such a manner, that the instrument, or the respective strings, sounds with beautifully clear tones, somewhat like a violin, which has a superior sound to any musical instruments. The bars, which creates the vibrations and transmits the same to their respective strings, are so arranged and held by fork like arms or levers, that they can be regulated at will according to the manner they should touch the roller, and the said. levers themselves are so connected with the keys on the key-board that every part can be regulated as the case may be, so that the respective bars can be brought in contact with the rotating roller according to the touch of the keys; and the rotating roller is ada ted to rotate by an eleotr0-motor, foot-pe al or any other suitable device, as hereunder set forth.

Figures 1 to 3 shows the internal arrangement of this instrument, and Fig. 4 shows the clamp which engages the string.

It will be seen that the instrument in ques- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 14-, 1908.

Serial No. 834,315.

tion is a key-board instrument above the substructure of which a harp-like superstructure is fitted, on the intermediate soundingboard wall a of which the strings b are strung over a number of bridges. In order to prevent lateral shifting of the strings and to give them a sufficient tension, a pressure ledge or strip 0 about 10 millimeters wide is provided in the vicinity of the lower attachment of the strings.

In the substructure of the instrument the roller (1 is fitted. The construction of this roller is of fundamental importance in order to obtain a constant tone from the instrument. A roller which is uniformly elastic over its entire length could not be employed; it must rather be so designed that in its first third, the point at which the bass strings are excited, it should be soft, in its central part less elastic, and at the treble end of a hard nature. This gradually increasing hardness is to be obtained by pouring printing-rollercomposition round a conically turned cellulose or metal roller or any other gluey and gummy substance instead of the printing roller-composition, in such a way that the conical roller takes a cylindrical form throughout, so that the one end where there is a thicker layer of roller-composition and where bass tones will be produced, feels soft, whereas the treble end, where there is but a thin layer of printing-roller composition, feels hard. The roller which is thus prepared is to be covered with a thin and jointless tube of wool or other texture that is impregnated with colophony dissolved in alcohol or turpentine. In the instrument the roller is given a rotating motion so that it acts upon the bars f operated from the key-board e and pressed against it in the same way as the bow used with the violin. In order to prevent the formation of grooves a reciprocating motion of the roller d of about 2 centimeters (about a} of an English inch) is at the same time provided for. The vibrations may also be produced by conically turned rollers covered with felt which is conically graduated in lieu of the printing-roller-composition, or also by cylindrical hard rollers covered with a layer of colophony in such a way that the surface of contact of the bars that is covered with cloth, hair, or any other material which will take the colophony on decreases gradually from the bass end towards the treble end in elasticity.

The rotatory motion of the roller d is effected either from the shaft 9 by a pedal arrangement h or direct by a small electromotor. When the roller is electrically driven it is useful, by means of resistances which are brought into operation by a foot pedal to modify the number of revolutions of the motor or the roller (2 and in this way like-wise the vibrations of the strings, as desired, and make the tone swell from pp to if. A similar shading of tones may be obtained by the treadle arrangement h.

The bars f are made of what is known as resonant wood, and in correspondence with the varying elasticity of the roller (Z or the tones to be produced they are made of elastic, or medium hard or hard kinds of material. They have an elliptic or. triangular section, and are fastened to the strings I) by hardened non-elastic steel clamps 7c through which the vibrations are completely transmitted to the strings. On the end opposite to that at which the strings are fastened the bars f are regulatably held by means of forks or levers Z in the pivoted arms m in such a way that they can swing freely; on their surfaces of contact these bars are covered with horse hair, bristles, vulcanized india-rubber, celluloid etc. colophony does not attach itself easily to these materials, so they cannot become resinous, and this is of great importance for the production of the tones. According to the arrangement as shown on Fig. 3 the length of the bars f varies, for instance in an instrument having a compass of about 5 octaves, the vibration is between 230 millimeters and 90 millimeters. The thickness or the two diameters of its elliptic section are here likewise modified between 14 and 9 or between 4 and 2%- millimeters. The connection of the keys e and the bars f will be established according to Fig. 2, by the double jointed actions n which are provided above with the counter-pressure spring 0 and the regulating screw p. This construction of the actionsenables a light touch, and the bars may be easily and exactly adjusted to the rollers.

In order to obtain a soft vibration of the long strings, a rapid and sure production of the tones and to prevent the strings shifting to either side, these strings are shored up in their nodal points by a support which consists of a screw-bolt u and a screw-nut v.

The possibility of keeping up the tones for an unlimited period on once striking the keys, and by means of the varying speed of the roller, of regulating the fullness of tone, allows of the most extensive range of shade and color in playing on this instrument. By means of a muting strip 8, which is worked in the well known manner, Fig. 2 arranged above the bars in the vicinity of the point of attachment of the strings which is pressed by a lever arrangement against the bars f or removed from the same, there is also the possibility of modifying the color or nature of the tones.

I claim;

A keyed musical-instrument com rising a keyboard, a sounding board, vertioa strings fastened to the sounding board; bridges on which the strings bear respectively; the screw bolts and nuts with which the strings are prevented from shifting sidewise, and for obtaining a soft tone from the respective strings; the strip for keeping the strings in position, and holding them against shifting to either sidejthe hardened non-elastic metal clamps, which hold the respective strings, adapted to transmit vibration to the strings; the bars each of which is firmly attached to one of the said clamps and the bristles on it which are adapted to create vibrations and transmit the same to the strings; the fork which holds the bar in position; the regulatable screw rod which holds the said fork operatively in connection with the respective keys on the key-board; the rotatable roller adapted to rotate against the bristles which are attached on the bars fastened to the said clamps; the means to reciprocate the roller longitudinally to avoid the formation of grooves in the same; the means to revolve the rotating roller, and the means to regulate the revolution of the roller, substantially as shown and described.

GUSTAV WVALOH.

WVitnesses:

WILHELM BOCIAN, RUDOLPH FRIoKE. 

